Transparency
International Zambia (TIZ) executive director Goodwell Lungu has said the termination
of Mutembo Nchito's contract as Task Force on Corruption prosecutor did not come
as a surprise because the government has been on record trying to frustrate
everyone that wants a progressive fight against corruption.

In an
interview yesterday, Lungu said Nchito was proactive in instituting an appeal
against the acquittal of former president Fredrick Chiluba, which he said the
government had frustrated.

"This The termination of Nchito's contract has
not come as a surprise. We saw it coming as TIZ because government has been on
record trying to frustrate all the people that want a progressive fight against
corruption," Lungu said.

He said the government had been orchestrating
the slow down in the fight against corruption."The Vice-President George
Kunda is on record accusing Mutembo Nchito of all sorts of things and we feel
this was a very unfortunate move by the Vice-President," Lungu
said.

Lungu said even the transfer of the Task Force on Corruption to the
Anti-Corruption
Commission (ACC) was just one way of disbanding it.

"That is why we
have not heard the ACC coming out to update the nation on how far they have gone
in investigating cases which were previously handled by the Task Force. We know
they are pending cases like the Carlington maize saga, the US $20 million arms
deal, so the ACC should not keep quiet on these issues because they border on
huge sums of money that was not properly utilised," Lungu said.

Lungu
challenged the ACC to make a public announcement and state which cases they were
following up.

"We are yet to see if the lawyers that have been engaged to
handle Task Force cases would be as vibrant as Mutembo," he said. "We further
wish to commend Mutembo for the excellent work he did during his time as Task
Force prosecutor. His work was unprecedented and we ask him not to be shaken. He
occupies a special position in this country in as far as the fight against
corruption is concerned."

Lungu said TIZ was aware that the government
was not committed in the fight against corruption.

"We appeal to Zambians
not to be discouraged by the current lack of political will to fight corruption.
They should not lose hope in the fight against corruption because we are very
hopeful that positive things will come out as long as we remain focused," he
said.

Lungu advised the government to be careful with some of the
decisions they made regarding corruption because they might have a bearing on
the country's future.

"Some of the decisions government is making today
will have a bearing on the future of Zambia especially on the development
process because if we have a vibrant fight against corruption, some of the
resources that are recovered from the fight can be channeled to development,"
said Lungu.

On Saturday, justice deputy minister Todd Chilembo told MUVI
TV that the Director of Public Prosecutions would appoint other lawyers to
continue from where Nchito ended.

He said all prosecutions in Zambia were
under the charge and control of the DPP so he would not allow a vacum. Chilembo
said in any case, Nchito had almost finished all his cases except for a few that
were at judgment level because some cases had not taken off.